TUESDAY, 6th OCTOBER 2020: RESTORATION IN THE MARKET PLACE
PRAYER GUIDE
ISAIAH 51:15-16 (NKJV)
15But I am the Lord your God,
Who divided the sea whose waves roared—
The Lord of hosts is His name.
16And I have put My words in your mouth; [Emphasis Added]
I have covered you with the shadow of My hand,
That I may plant the heavens,
Lay the foundations of the earth, [Emphasis Added]
And say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’”
JEREMIAH 1:9,10 (ESV)
Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me,
“Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.
See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to break down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”
EZEKIEL 37: 3-5, 7, 9, 10
And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, [Emphasis Added] O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live….
So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, [Emphasis Added] and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone…
Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, [Emphasis Added] Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on
these slain, that they may live.” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, [Emphasis Added] and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
MARK 11:13-14
And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he
came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And he said to it, [Emphasis Added] “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it. [Emphasis Added]
MARK 11:22-24
And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, [Emphasis Added] whoever says to this mountain, [Emphasis Added] Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says [Emphasis Added] will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, [Emphasis Added] believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
GUIDING TEXT FOR THE FASTING SEASON
ISAIAH 32:1-8
1Behold, a king will reign in righteousness,
And princes will rule with justice.
2A man will be as a hiding place from the wind,
And a cover from the tempest,
As rivers of water in a dry place,
As the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
3The eyes of those who see will not be dim,
And the ears of those who hear will listen.
4Also the heart of the rash will understand knowledge,
And the tongue of the stammerers will be ready to speak plainly.
5The foolish person will no longer be called generous,
Nor the miser said to be bountiful;
6For the foolish person will speak foolishness,
And his heart will work iniquity:
To practice ungodliness,
To utter error against the Lord,
To keep the hungry unsatisfied,
And he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.
7Also the schemes of the schemer are evil;
He devises wicked plans
To destroy the poor with lying words,
Even when the needy speaks justice.
8But a generous man devises generous things,
And by generosity he shall stand.
Day |
Day of the Week |
Date |
Area of Focus |
WEEK SEVEN |
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| 49 | Tuesday | 6th October 2020 | Restoration in the Marketplace |
CONCLUSION |
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| 50 | Wednesday | 7th October 2020 | Dedicating the Decade 2020 -2029 |
| Thursday | 8th October 2020 | Dedicating 2020/2021 | |
| Friday | 9th October 2020 | THANKSGIVING |
DATES TO NOTE
CONCLUDING VIRTUAL CONFERENCE
Monday, 5th October to Wednesday, 7th October 2020 (7 pm to 9 pm)
CONCLUDING NIGHT VIGIL & DEDICATION OF 2020/2021
Thursday, 8th October 2020
RESTORATION IN THE MARKET PLACE
Throughout the scriptures the giants of faith had strong ties to what we now call “secular work” or the market place. They tended sheep, built cities, wrote music and poetry, served kings, were kings, practiced medicine, caught fish, collected taxes, built products etc. They did this while serving God or preparing to serve Him. The religious spirit has spiritualized this fact to appoint that when we think of the biblical men and women of old, their engagement with ordinary life is blurred. Take a look at this list of market place work that the giants of faith were involved in:
- Farmers: Cain, Isaac, Jacob, Abraham …
- Shepherds and ranchers: Abel, Abraham, Amos, David …
- Managers: Joseph, Obadiah, Eliakim …
- Land owners and dealers in real estate: include Abraham, Jeremiah, Elisha (he had an equivalent of 12 tractors) …
- Heads of State: David, Hezekiah and all the godly kings of Israel and Judah plus others like Nebuchadnezzar (who wrote one chapter of the Bible) and Cyrus …
- Leaders in government: Joseph, Daniel, David Nehemiah, Moses …
- Advisors to kings: Daniel, Joseph, Isaiah …
- Legislators: Moses, Mordecai, Esther …
- Intellectuals: Solomon, Apostle Paul …
- Authors: Moses, David plus all the writers of the Bible …
- Philosopher: Solomon
- Judges: Moses, Deborah, Samuel and all the leaders in the Book of the Judges …
- Military strategists and commanders: Joshua, David plus a host of others …
- Investors in gold, silver and precious metals: Abraham, Solomon, David …
- Musicians and songwriters: Moses, Miriam, David …
- Botanists and horticulturists: Solomon …
- Civil Servants: Nehemiah, Joseph, Daniel …
- Ship builders: Ezekiel, Noah …
- Experts in international affairs: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel …
- Artisans and Builders: Bezalel, Aholiab, Huram-abi …
- Architects: Moses, David, Solomon …
Jesus worked as a carpenter for 18 years (12-30 years) compared with 3 years of itinerant ministry. In addition he spent most of his time with ordinary people: farmers, fishermen, carpenters, builders, tax collectors, entrepreneurs. In his preaching ministry he had a message for each of these market people as did John the Baptist.
The Early Church movement was founded on 12 market place men – the apostles: fishermen, political activists, and tax collectors. Apostle Paul was a theologian, tent maker and supported himself in the ministry (1 Thessalonians). The Gospel first came to Africa through a market place minister – the Ethiopian Minister of Finance. The first European convert was Lydia, a wealthy businesswoman in the textile/fashion industry. She became a leader in the Philippian Church (Acts 16:14). Phoebe was a businesswoman in the early Church located in the Asian city of Cenchrea (Romans 16:1,2). Priscilla and Aquila, leaders in the Early Church, were tent makers (Acts 18:3). Luke was a medical doctor (Colossians 4:14). Zenas the lawyer ministered with Apollos the man mighty in words, possibly a motivational speaker (Titus 3:13). Erastus was the city treasurer of the most important global city at the time and companion to Timothy (Acts 16:22, Romans 16:23).
So what happened to the church? Deceptive teachings based on the philosophies of men crept in during the centuries of falling away (spiritual decline prophesied by the Apostles) resulting in the loss of earlier truths and traditions. In the Dark and Middle Ages, Greek thinking and philosophy took centre stage among God’s people. Plato’s teachings established a dualism between two realms – the temporary realm of physical matter and the eternal realm of metaphysical ideals, with the non-physical being superior to the physical. Physical world was devalued and the unseen world was elevated. The body was downgraded and the soul exalted. Plato called the body the “prison house of the soul.” Artists and philosophers were honored and while manual labor and those who performed it were degraded. The Church largely retreated from the Marketplace.
However in the last 500 years since the Reformation started in 1617, God has been progressively restoring the Church. There is now a growing understanding that the call to a profession or to business is just as legitimate and godly as any other call. Those called to work in the market place do not have to struggle with guilt or thoughts that what they are doing is some kind of second rate calling as they prepare to do the “real work of the ministry”. All work is honorable and God still calls people to serve him in the professions and all kinds of biblically legitimate work as part of service and worship in His Kingdom. When this truth firmly gets hold of the Body of Christ, and believers learn to do everything as unto the Lord, another great move of God will be underway that will impact all of society like none has so far.
SCRIPTURES FOR PRAYER AND PROCLAMATION
GENESIS 2:15
The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
GENESIS 1:28
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
DEUTERONOMY 8:6-10
So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.
DEUTERONOMY 8:17,18
Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
DEUTERONOMY 28: 1-14
“And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his
commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the
nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.
“The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. The Lord will command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake. And he will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. The Lord will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in his ways. And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. And the Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. The Lord will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them, and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
2 CHRONICLES 32:27-30
And Hezekiah had very great riches and honor, and he made for himself treasuries for silver, for gold, for precious stones, for spices, for shields, and for all kinds of costly vessels; storehouses also for the yield of grain, wine, and oil; and stalls for all kinds of cattle, and sheepfolds. He likewise provided cities for himself, and flocks and herds in abundance, for God had given him very great possessions. This same Hezekiah closed the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon and directed them down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works.
PSALM 128:1,2
Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways! You shall eat the fruit of the labor
of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.
ECCLESIASTES 9:10
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might…
ACTS 20:33-35
I coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
COLOSSIANS 1:17
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving
thanks to God the Father through him.
COLOSSIANS 3:23
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,
PROVERBS 12:11
Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks
sense.
2 TIMOTHY 2:6
It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops.
PROVERBS 6:10-12
A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man. A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech,
EPHESIANS 4:28
Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so
that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
PROVERBS 22:29
Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure
men.
WORSHIP GOD THE WORKER AND CREATOR OF THE MARKET PLACE
GENESIS 1:31
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening
and there was morning, the sixth day.
GENESIS 2:3
So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that
he had done in creation.
THANK GOD FOR:
- Creating the earth and putting in it all that man will ever need for work in the marketplace.
- Creating us in His image and giving us the mandate to work and take care of His creation.
PROCLAMATION OVER THE MARKET PLACE
A Declaration Of What We Are Praying For And What We See As God Answers Prayer
We declare over the Body of Christ in Uganda
We blow the trumpet in Zion the gathering of God’s people
Awake, awake, put on your strength, O People of God
Dress up! Put on your beautiful garments,
Shake yourself from the dust and arise; be seated, O Church;
Loose the bonds from your neck, and the let the scales drop from your eyes
O captive daughter of Zion.
Arise to your calling to serve and glorify your God in the market place.
We call forth spirit filled teachers, technicians, plumbers, laborers, accountants, bankers, lawyers, engineers, farmers, doctors, pharmacists, researchers, midwives, electricians, architects, plumbers, programmers, IT specialists, musicians and artists, business men and women, transporters, fashion designers
(MENTION OTHERS)
The breath of God blows over you for an awakening and visitation.
Arise with a new understanding of your calling to do the work of the ministry in your place of work You will steal no longer but work hard with integrity.
Cast off laziness, sluggishness, procrastination, daydreaming, and shoddiness You will glorify God as you work with diligence and excellence. Humility and gratitude will be your hallmark as you acknowledge God in your work. You will demonstrate dependability and trustworthiness in your service. You will emulate God’s character in all you do. God will be greatly glorified in the Ugandan Marketplace
AMEN
